BAMMA 16: Daley vs Da Rocha Preview
By Alex Dillon @AlexKingdomMMA.jpg)
BAMMA returns to Manchester this weekend for the first time since 2011 with its ‘BAMMA 16’ event taking place at the Victoria Warehouse. Headlined by the UK's finest welterweight Paul 'Semtex' Daley, will be looking to sign off in style before he heads off to Bellator in the states. It’s a stacked card with 15 fights featuring some of the best up and coming pros and amateurs that the UK has to offer.
Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley (34-13-2) vs Marinho Moreira Da Rocha (28-6)
So far in 2014, ‘Semtex’ has signed a deal to return to Bellator but contrary to this he hasn’t fought in an MMA bout this year. Instead he chose to compete in kickboxing and successfully won all of his bouts. Daley is on a KO run as of late and certainly won’t be looking to give that up against late replacement Da Rocha. Da Rocha himself is on an impressive 6 win KO streak with all fights taking place in his home country of Brazil. With both fighters being known for their KO power, this fight has all the credentials to bring fireworks come fight night. The fact that Daley has fought better opposition at a much higher level than Da Rocha should tell the result.
Prediction: Daley via TKO
Tom Duquesnoy (9-1) vs Ashleigh Grimshaw (16-8-1) - For the Bamma World Featherweight Title
The defending champion Duquesnoy comes into this fight riding a five fight winning streak. Nicknamed the ‘firekid’ and rightfully so as he boasts 7 finishes out of his 9 victories with his last victory coming via submission at Bamma 15. Duquesnoy is certainly one of the slickest featherweights on the European MMA scene at the moment and carrying the BAMMA featherweight title proves this. Grimshaw is a UK MMA veteran of 25 fights and comes into this fight winning his last six. Like Duquesnoy, Grimshaw also has an abundance of finishes on his record which on paper, makes this match up a contender for fight of the night. Duquesnoy is one of a new breed of fighters coming through though and I expect him to be too much for Grimshaw.
Prediction: Duquesnoy via TKO
Leon Edwards (7-1) vs Shaun Taylor (7-0) - British Welterweight Title
Training out of renowned UTC Gym in Birmingham, champion Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards has made a name for himself on the pro UK circuit racking up a five fight win streak. Edwards is a proven finisher having finished all of his fights since joining the BAMMA promotion. His opponent Shaun ‘The Disgrace Taylor’ also hails from a renowned gym in Dinky Ninjas which is home to UFC fighters Joanne Calderwood and Robert Whiteford. Adding to this he also has an impressive finishing record with only one of his victories going to the judges’ scorecards. This fight has to be the most intriguing and open of all the bouts on the night as it is pitting two fighters currently at the top of their game in their careers which should make it a classic. It could be argued that Edwards has the bigger fight promotion experience so to speak and although this will be his toughest test to date, I'm fairly confident he will successfully defend his title.
Prediction: Edwards via Decision
Mike Wootten (7-0) vs. Antoine Galinaro (7-1)
TUF 18 semi finalist Mike Wootten makes his return to the cage after a long stint out in this intriguing matchup vs French stand out Antoine Galinaro. Before losing to eventual TUF 18 champion Chris Holdsworth, Wootten amassed a perfect 7-0 record on the pro uk mma scene with 6 of these wins coming via stoppage. His opponent Galinaro comes into this fight on a 3 fight winning streak made up of 2 submission victories and 1 TKO stoppage. Both fighters have their own questions to answer coming into this fight. How will Wootten cope given his long lay off? How will Galinaro fair in his first fight out of France? One thing’s for sure both have finishing pedigree which makes this an exciting contest to look forward to this Saturday.Prediction: Wootten via Submission
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